Privacy notice

In short

• linkage is a closed private beta run by Dennis Wiebler. Only invited testers can send files.
• We store what the service needs: your email address and account details if you are a tester, the files you send with their names and sizes, and the records of notices and decisions.
• Files are deleted within the hour after their link expires. We keep no backups of files.
• Files and records are stored with Cloudflare in the EU. linkage stores no IP addresses in its database; Cloudflare's security analytics keep sampled request details, including IP addresses, for up to 31 days.
• No analytics, no tracking, no advertising, no consent banner. The only cookie linkage sets keeps you signed in; during an attack Cloudflare may add a security cookie (see Cookies and storage on your device).
• You can ask for access to your data, its correction or its deletion at any time: contact@getlinkage.com.

Who is responsible

The controller under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:

Email: contact@getlinkage.com. Phone or post on request. More details are in the Legal notice.

We have not appointed a data protection officer; at linkage's size the law does not require one. Send every question about your data to the address above.

Visiting the website

When you open getlinkage.com or a link on lnkg.link, your browser sends a request. Cloudflare delivers linkage on our behalf (see Recipients) and processes the request in the data centre that receives it.

Purpose

Deliver pages, the interface and files, protect the service against attacks and misuse, and find faults.

Data

Your IP address and the country and network derived from it, the address you requested (on lnkg.link it contains the link key and the file name), request headers such as browser type and language, and the time.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is a service that works and stays secure, for you and for everyone who uses it.

Storage period

linkage stores none of these data in its database. Cloudflare's request analytics keep sampled details of single requests, such as IP address, country, network, the requested address and browser type, for up to 31 days. Requests that Cloudflare blocks also appear as security events for up to 31 days. We see these data in our Cloudflare dashboard and use them only to fend off attacks and find faults; we do not export them.

The protection at the edge of Cloudflare's network works automatically. Cloudflare counts requests per IP address and blocks an address for 10 seconds when it sends more than 60 requests within 10 seconds to lnkg.link or more than 120 to getlinkage.com. Only requests that read a file (GET and HEAD) reach links. Cloudflare's Browser Integrity Check and DDoS protection run on both domains. During an attack we can add an address or a network to a block list by hand; an entry stays there only as long as it is needed to fend off the attack.

Test accounts and sign-in

Only the operator creates test accounts. You give your email address to the operator when you ask to test linkage. The operator enters it in the admin area and passes you an invite link that works once. There are no passwords.

Test account

Purpose

Provide your test account, sign you in, manage your access (lock, access end) and record which version of the Terms of use you accepted.

Data

Email address, a name the operator enters to recognise the account (usually your name; shown only in the admin area), role, plan, status (active or locked), the time of a lock, who created the account and when, the access end, the time of your last sign-in, your last activity (to the hour), and the version of the terms you accepted with the time.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR: the contract for the beta and the steps before it that you asked for. For the record of the accepted terms also Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in being able to show which terms apply.

Storage period

Until the access end. What happens afterwards is set out under “After your access ends” below.

In the admin area the operator sees your email address and the name entered for you, plan, status, access end, last sign-in and last activity, the state of your sign-in link, your transfers with their file names, sizes, full links, dates, download counts and state, the figures of your account and the decision log entries about it. Moderation and authorities explains when the operator opens a file.

After your access ends

Purpose

Handle notices and orders about your links, which keep working until they expire, at most 90 days after the access end; keep the account for 6 months so that you can challenge a decision about your content and we can reverse it; establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Data

The data of your test account listed above, the records of your transfers and any files that have not expired.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in handling notices and challenges about content shared through linkage and in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. While a notice is open, also Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR in conjunction with Art. 16 and 17 DSA.

Storage period

6 months after the access end; longer only while an open notice names one of your transfers. On request we delete the account earlier, unless an open notice, a challenge of one of our decisions or a legal claim requires us to keep it. You can object to this processing (see Right to object).

Sign-in links

Purpose

Sign you in without a password.

Data

Only a SHA-256 hash of the link's secret part, the account, the time of creation, the expiry and the time of use. The full link is shown once, to the operator who creates it.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR.

Storage period

An invite link is valid for 7 days and works once; the operator's own sign-in links are valid for 15 minutes. A new link replaces earlier unused ones. The hourly maintenance job deletes the record once the link has expired; a lock of the account deletes it at once.

Sessions

Purpose

Keep you signed in.

Data

A random token in the cookie __Host-lk_session. We store only its SHA-256 hash, the time of creation, the expiry and your last activity (to the hour).

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR. For the cookie § 25 (2) No. 2 Telekommunikation-Digitale-Dienste-Datenschutz-Gesetz (TDDDG) (see Cookies and storage on your device).

Storage period

At most 30 days after sign-in, without renewal. A session ends earlier when you sign out, when the account is locked, when its access ends or when you sign in again in the same browser. Its record is deleted at once when you sign out, when the account is locked or when you sign in again; otherwise the hourly job deletes it after it has expired.

Files you send

Purpose

Store your file, deliver it to the people you give the link to, show your transfers in “Files” and apply the limits of the beta.

Data

The file itself; its file name, link name, content type and size; the link key; when the upload started and completed; the expiry and the lifetime you chose; the status; a download counter and the bytes served (for the download limit); while an upload runs, its upload id and the checksums of the uploaded parts.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR.

Storage period

The file is deleted within the hour after the link expires, and at once when you or the operator delete the transfer. An upload that never completed is deleted 1 day after it started. As a backstop, a storage rule deletes any file 400 days after the upload (Free files after 2 days). The record is deleted at once with the transfer; after expiry it is kept for 30 days, so “Files” can show it as history, and then deleted.

linkage does not scan or analyse the contents of your files automatically. Cloudflare's CSAM Scanning Tool sees only images in Cloudflare's cache, and linkage serves the files you send without caching them (see Automated decisions and tools). Moderation and authorities explains when the operator opens a file. The file name is part of the link and of the download, so everyone who has the link sees it.

Personal data in your files

You decide what your files contain and who gets the link. If a file contains personal data of other people, you need a legal basis for sending it. During the beta, use linkage only for private purposes and not for personal data you process for an employer or a client (Terms of use). linkage offers no data processing agreement during the beta.

People who download a file

If someone sent you a link, you get the file directly: there is no page and no account. Each download carries a link to this notice in its HTTP headers.

Purpose

Deliver the file the sender addressed to you, protect the service and apply the download limit.

Data

Your IP address and the request data (see Visiting the website). linkage counts the download in the transfer's download counter and adds the bytes served; neither identifies you. The sender sees an approximate number of downloads.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest, which the sender shares, is to deliver the file securely to the people the sender chose.

Storage period

linkage's database stores nothing about you. Cloudflare's request analytics keep sampled details of requests for up to 31 days (see Visiting the website). The counters belong to the transfer record and are deleted with it.

If a link no longer works, your browser is sent to a notice page on getlinkage.com. The address of that page contains neither the link key nor the file name.

Link previews and other services

When a link is pasted into a well-known chat or social app, the app's service may fetch a preview. linkage then answers with a small page that shows the file name, size and expiry date, with links to report the link and to the legal notice. The app's provider receives these details and handles them under its own privacy rules. Other services that open a link, for example mail security scanners, search engine crawlers or apps we do not recognise, receive the file itself, like any recipient; their requests count towards the download counter and the download limit.

Notices and contact messages

Notices of illegal content

Anyone can report a link by email to abuse@getlinkage.com or through our report form (Report a link).

Purpose

Review the notice and decide on it, confirm receipt and tell you the decision, inform the uploader of a measure, report to the authorities where the law requires it, and document all of it (Art. 16 to 18 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, the Digital Services Act, DSA).

Data

Reference, time, category, the links, your explanation, your name and email address, your role, your good-faith confirmation, status, decision, measures, the times when the confirmation of receipt, the decision and a statement of reasons were sent, the reference of a report to the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA), and review notes.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR with Art. 16, 17 and 18 DSA. In addition Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in documenting decisions and in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

Storage period

3 years after the decision.

If a notice concerns one of your links, we process the link, the transfer and account it belongs to, and the notifier's explanation. These data come from the person who sent the notice. With the notice we keep the file name, the size and the account of the transfer as they were when the notice came in, also after the file is deleted, so that we can inform the uploader of a measure. The same legal basis and storage period apply (3 years after the decision), also when we take no measure.

If we take a measure, the uploader learns about it and the reasons. We pass your identity on to the uploader only where this is strictly necessary, for example for a claim that a copyright of yours was infringed. For notices of child sexual abuse material, name and email address are optional; without an email address we cannot confirm receipt. Never attach copies of the content.

Contact messages

You can write to contact@getlinkage.com or use our contact form (Contact).

Purpose

Answer your message and handle requests about your data.

Data

Reference, time, your name (optional), your email address, your message, status and the time the message was closed.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in answering questions. If the message concerns your test account, Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR. A request to exercise your rights: Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR with Art. 12 to 22 GDPR.

Storage period

1 year after the message was closed.

Protection of the forms and alerts

Cloudflare limits how many notices and messages one IP address (for IPv6, one /56 network) can send in a short time. The limit only receives a keyed hash of the address or network, made with a random key that changes every day; linkage deletes each key within two days and stores neither the IP address nor the hash. For each new notice or message, linkage mails an alert to the operator's mailbox at Google with the reference, the category and the link keys only, without your name, email address or text. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, our legitimate interest in handling notices promptly and in keeping the forms usable.

Moderation and authorities

Review of content

The operator opens a file only where this is needed to review a notice, an order from an authority or a concrete suspicion of a breach of the Terms of use (own check), and only as far as needed. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR with Art. 9 and 16 DSA for orders and notices; otherwise Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, our legitimate interest in keeping illegal content off the service.

Decision log

Apart from the automatic block by Cloudflare's CSAM Scanning Tool (see Automated decisions and tools), the operator decides every measure against content or an account in person. linkage records each action the operator takes on a test account. If we restrict your content or your account because of a notice or a breach of the terms, we send you a statement of reasons by email (Art. 17 DSA).

Purpose

Keep a traceable record of every action on a test account, document moderation decisions and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Data

The action (create the account, issue a sign-in link, lock, unlock, change or end access, delete a transfer, delete all files), the time, the account and, where applicable, the link key, file name, number of files, bytes and access end.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR with Art. 16 and 17 DSA and Art. 5 (2) GDPR. In addition Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in being able to prove our decisions.

Storage period

3 years after each entry.

Authorities

If information gives rise to a suspicion of a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of persons, we must inform the law enforcement authorities, in Germany the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) (Art. 18 DSA). We report child sexual abuse material to the BKA. We also pass data to authorities and courts when an order or a law obliges us to, for example under Art. 9 and 10 DSA. Such a report contains the data needed about the content and the account concerned. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR. We keep the reference of a report with the notice or, for a report on our own initiative, in our internal records, for 3 years after the decision.

Mail and the operator's mailbox

Mail to contact@getlinkage.com, abuse@getlinkage.com and abuse@lnkg.link passes through Cloudflare Email Routing, which forwards it to the operator's mailbox at Google (Gmail). Cloudflare acts as our processor. Until linkage can send email to you, the operator sends all mail from this mailbox: replies, confirmations of receipt, decisions, statements of reasons, answers to requests about your data and invite links that go out by mail. The alerts linkage sends about new notices and messages also go to this mailbox. Google processes these mails as a separate controller under its own privacy policy and may process them outside the EU (see Processing outside the EU).

Purpose

Receive and answer mail and send the messages the beta needs, with the means available during the beta.

Data

Your mail address, the content of your mail and of our replies, confirmations, decisions and statements of reasons, and the technical details (sender, recipient, subject, time, delivery headers).

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in reading and answering mail promptly. For notices and statements of reasons also Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR with Art. 16 and 17 DSA.

Storage period

In the operator's mailbox as for the matter the mail belongs to: notices and decisions 3 years after the decision, other messages 1 year after they were closed. Cloudflare Email Routing keeps a delivery log (sender, recipient, subject, time, result) for up to 31 days.

Before linkage opens to the public, these addresses will move to a business mailbox in the EU with a data processing agreement.

Error logs

Purpose

Find and fix errors in the service.

Data

The error lines linkage writes: the request path (on lnkg.link it contains the link key and the file name), link keys and the error message. They contain no IP addresses.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is a service that works.

Storage period

7 days.

linkage's logs of ordinary requests are switched off. Cloudflare's request analytics are described under Visiting the website.

Cookies and storage on your device

linkage stores information on your device, or reads it from there, only where this is strictly necessary for the service you asked for (§ 25 (2) No. 2 TDDDG). We therefore ask for no consent and show no consent banner.

Session cookie

__Host-lk_session holds a random token that keeps you signed in. It is set only after you click “Sign in”, is sent only to getlinkage.com and only over encrypted connections, cannot be read by scripts on the page and expires after 30 days.

Theme setting

If you choose “Light” or “Dark” in the theme switch, your browser keeps the value light or dark under the key lk-theme in its local storage. “Auto” stores nothing. A small script on every page reads the key to show the theme you chose. The value never leaves your device and stays until you change the setting or clear your browser data.

Security check during attacks

If we switch on a Cloudflare security check during an attack, Cloudflare may set the cookie cf_clearance after your browser has passed the check, so it is not checked again on every request. It serves only to protect the service you asked for.

linkage uses no analytics, no tracking and no advertising. linkage serves its fonts itself; its pages load nothing from Google or other third parties.

Recipients

• Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA, as our processor for hosting, network, file storage (R2), database (D1), security and Email Routing, under its Data Processing Addendum (version 6.4 of 3 April 2026), part of its Self-Serve Subscription Agreement.
• Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, as provider of the operator's mailbox (Gmail): mail to our addresses, the alerts linkage sends to the operator, and the mail the operator sends during the beta (see Mail and the operator's mailbox).
• The people a sender gives a link to: they receive the file, its name and size.
• Well-known chat and social apps that fetch a link preview: file name, size and expiry date.
• Other services that open a link, such as mail security scanners and search engine crawlers: the file itself, like any recipient.
• The uploader of reported content: the decision and, only where strictly necessary, the identity of the person who sent the notice.
• Authorities and courts where the law requires it, in particular the BKA under Art. 18 DSA.

We do not sell data and do not pass it on for advertising.

Processing outside the EU

Files and database records are stored in Cloudflare's EU jurisdiction. Cloudflare processes requests in its global network, normally in a data centre near the visitor, which may lie outside the EU. Logs and analytics that Cloudflare keeps for us (error logs, request analytics, security events, the mail delivery log) may be stored in Cloudflare's data centres outside the EU, in particular in the USA. Cloudflare, Inc. is a US company.

Transfers to the USA rely on the adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/1795); Cloudflare is certified under it. Where the framework does not apply, Cloudflare's Data Processing Addendum provides the EU standard contractual clauses (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914). These safeguards cover all of the processing described in this section.

Google may process the mail in the operator's mailbox in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

Storage periods

• Files: within the hour after the link expires, at once when you or the operator delete the transfer; unfinished uploads 1 day after they started; at the latest 400 days after the upload (Free files after 2 days).
• Transfer records: at once with the transfer, otherwise 30 days after expiry.
• Sign-in links: within the hour after they have expired (invite links after 7 days, the operator's own links after 15 minutes); at once when the account is locked or a new link replaces an unused one.
• Sessions: at once when you sign out, when the account is locked or when you sign in again; otherwise within the hour after they have expired, at most 30 days after sign-in.
• Test accounts with their sign-in links, sessions and remaining files: 6 months after the access end; later only while an open notice names one of their transfers; on request earlier.
• Decision log: 3 years after each entry.
• Notices, with the reference of any report to an authority: 3 years after the decision.
• Notifications of the CSAM Scanning Tool: like a notice, 3 years after the decision.
• Contact messages: 1 year after they were closed.
• Mail in the operator's mailbox: like the notice or message it belongs to.
• Mail delivery log at Cloudflare: up to 31 days.
• Error logs: 7 days.
• Request analytics and security events at Cloudflare: up to 31 days.
• IP addresses and networks on the block list: only as long as needed to fend off an attack.
• Session cookie: on your device until you sign out, at most 30 days.
• Theme setting: on your device until you change it or clear your browser data.

The database keeps a recovery history at Cloudflare for up to 30 days (D1 Time Travel); deleted records leave it after that. We keep no backups of files.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• access your data (Art. 15 GDPR),
• have incorrect data corrected (Art. 16 GDPR),
• have your data deleted (Art. 17 GDPR),
• have the processing restricted (Art. 18 GDPR),
• receive the data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format, where we process it under a contract (Art. 20 GDPR),
• object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21 GDPR, see Right to object).

Write to contact@getlinkage.com. We may ask you to confirm that the request comes from you, for example by writing from the address of your account. We answer within one month. None of the processing described here is based on consent.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), in particular in the EU country where you live or work or where the alleged infringement took place. The authority competent for us is:

Email: poststelle@lda.bayern.de. Website: www.lda.bayern.de.

Right to object

Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR). Where we process your data on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR), you can object at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We then stop the processing unless we can show compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing serves to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. Send your objection to contact@getlinkage.com.

We do not use your data for direct marketing.

Do you have to provide data?

To get a test account you have to give the operator an email address; without it there is no account. To open a page or download a file, your browser has to send its IP address for technical reasons. Our report form asks for your name and email address, as Art. 16 DSA provides. For notices of child sexual abuse material both are optional; for other categories the form needs both and cannot be sent without them. Without an email address we cannot confirm receipt or tell you our decision (Art. 16 (4) and (5) DSA). The contact form needs an email address so that we can answer. No law obliges you to provide data to linkage.

Automated decisions and tools

Cloudflare's CSAM Scanning Tool can block a matching image by itself; the operator reviews every such block in person. Every other measure against content or an account is decided by the operator in person, and no other decision about you is based solely on automated processing (Art. 22 GDPR).

These automated tools protect the service and apply its rules:

• rate limits per IP address and the block list at Cloudflare's edge;
• a rule that lets only requests that read a file reach links;
• Cloudflare's Browser Integrity Check and DDoS protection;
• Cloudflare's CSAM Scanning Tool (below);
• the upload and storage limits and the download limit;
• the limits on our report and contact forms;
• the cleaning of file names, and the rules that end links at expiry or deletion.

CSAM Scanning Tool

We use Cloudflare's CSAM Scanning Tool on getlinkage.com and lnkg.link. It compares hashes of images that pass through Cloudflare's cache with hashes of known child sexual abuse material and blocks a match. linkage serves the files you send without caching them, so the tool rarely sees them. Cloudflare tells us about a block by email, and the operator reviews the case in person.

Purpose

Detect and block known child sexual abuse material on our domains.

Data

Hashes of images in Cloudflare's cache. On a match: the blocked address (on lnkg.link it contains the link key and the file name) and Cloudflare's notification to abuse@getlinkage.com.

Legal basis

Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is to keep such material off the service and to protect children; the tool is a voluntary measure on our own initiative (Art. 7 DSA).

Storage period

A block stays until Cloudflare lifts it at our request after the operator's review. The notification is kept like a notice, 3 years after the decision.

Apart from this tool, linkage does not scan the contents of files.

Using linkage under a pseudonym

You can use linkage under a pseudonym where this is technically possible and reasonable (§ 19 (2) TDDDG). Downloading needs no account and no name. For a test account you can use an email address that does not show your name, and you can ask the operator to enter a nickname instead of your name. In the contact form your name is optional.

Security

We protect data with technical and organisational measures (Art. 32 GDPR), among them: encrypted connections only (TLS 1.2 or higher, HSTS); sign-in links and session tokens stored only as hashes; the operator's admin area behind Cloudflare Access with a one-time code and a check of its access token on every request; a deploy key with only the permissions it needs; a strict content security policy; rate limits; and the deletion jobs described above.

Changes to this notice

We update this notice when the processing changes. The date at the top shows the current version. If a change affects test accounts, we tell testers.